Days of Darkness (2007)
Jean-Marc is a man without qualities living in times that are out of joint. His wife and children ignore him; he's a mid-level government functionary in Montreal doing his job without care. He has an active imagination of sexual conquest, but his only real feelings come when he visits his aged mother, whose health is failing. When his wife leaves abruptly to work in Toronto, Jean-Marc sets out to reorder things with his daughters, his social life, and at work. In a world that at best is a farce, does he stand a chance?
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How sad is this?
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
It is depressive, melancholic, and boring. I watched the trailer and I was so happy. But I never thought the movie would be a waste of time. I wonder how it got nominated numerous awards. Thank goodness, it didn't win any but for Best Make-up, which I agree.I am giving it 4/10 just Diane Kruger. Yes, she is so hot, sexy and steamy!
I loved the vivid social points brought up by this film. I have considered myself a great fan of Arcand since "Jesus of Montreal" in the late 1980's... that having been said, I wondered how he was going to tie the stories in this film together to complete the film. The answer is... he didn't. The ending was most likely the reason this film was screened out of Cannes in '07. The close is a non-ending, so if this is a "spoiler", sorry, but not only did it not make sense in a real-world scenario, it doesn't make sense in the film world either. The production either ran out of plot or money or both... don't expect a resolve to which you can feel satisfied. This having been said, the film up to the last thirty minutes was fun, biting and wonderful.
I saw the comments saying that this movie is a copy of American Beauty or the Private Life of Walter Mitty. Even if I can see where it is possible to see similarities, I insist this is a whole new movie all together. Many elements are quite original, even though the intention of the movie is to show us how we can see life pass us by and not even be aware that there is something wrong. The movie very clearly asks if a life in a suburb, with commuting to a meaningless job and a life partner who is completely absorb by their work is worth living. To me, this movie goes further than AB or WM because it demonstrate how depressing our world can be. I watched it 6 or 7 times and I still discover hidden messages in some of the images. Denys Arcand is a great director and he has contributed in an important way to helping put Québec cinema on the map. To me, this is an 8.5 so I will give it a 9 on the voting window.
Saw this recently at the Canadian film festival.I was expecting to be let down by this film (as Arcand set the bar very high with his previous films. However I was pleasantly surprised and found this to be very, very entertaining.With the opening shower scene and the fact that his wife is a real estate agent there are obvious comparisons to American Beauty.Ulimately I think Arcand covers more ground in his film and you can't help but laugh at his very dark and also very accurate observations on modern life in a big city.From ridiculous government bureaucracy to disconnection through mobile phones and MP3 players, speed dating and relationships in general Arcand is dead on.I guess the only thing I didn't quite agree with was the notion of moving to the country house away from the city and it's craziness and everything will be just fine.I guess it is ultimately sad that this is a pretty accurate depiction of modern society in many western countries right now. The level of disconnection among people is both sad and and frustrating.But I loved the honesty in the film and found it extremely entertaining and much funnier than his other films.